Horrified and overwhelmed by what you’re seeing? For sure. Inspired by the journalism? I sure hope so.

Perhaps the best among a flood of Charlottesville stories is the Vice New Tonight segment Charlottesville: Race and Terror, a 22-minute deep dive into the experience of some of the white supremacists who organized the event. It’s been viewed more than 30 million times.

The Education Next public opinion poll uncovered some interesting news, especially a big one-year drop in public support for the formation of charter schools and a somewhat improved view of voucher programs. See coverage from Chalkbeat, EDSource, AP, and NPR.

It’s understandable if somewhat problematic that so much of the coverage was focused so narrowly on the charter school question rather than a broader set of results. One of journalism’s worst habits is leaving readers hanging after an issue’s controversy has died down.

Some of the findings that got overlooked or downplayed include stable support for Common Core, which had been in a decline, along with rising support for Common Core among teachers, and rising support for common standards.

However, the coverage of the charter school decline was generally responsible and nuanced, in terms of things like not attributing the decline entirely to Trump. And a few outlets found unusual angles, like MSN’s story on the public’s under-estimation of what teachers make (under a new contract, rookie Detroit teachers will make more than their suburban counterparts) and The 74’s story on public confusion over what opting out means.

Remember that August 28th will bring the release of polling results from PDK (the publishing partner of The Grade). The PDK poll will provide a point of comparison to the EdNext poll, and also (new this year) will provide state-level poll results for Georgia and New York.

IGNORED RUMORS IN PORTLAND

Well done, Oregonian: Its “Benefit of the Doubt” story reveals the delays and diversions by Portland Public Schools educators and administrators after students accused teacher Mitchell Whitehurst of sexual harassment and abuse. Reporter Bethany Barnes first reported the accusations last year, then FOIAd the district when it settled the case. After a five-month battle, the paper won access to the records. Then the real reporting began.

“Officials called it ‘rumor’ when 14 girls complained about this guy’s creepy behavior,” noted fellow Oregonian reporter Kale Williams (who is, coincidentally, the grandson of one of my mother’s dearest friends). “He finally lost his job when ONE DUDE complained.”

FROM “THE GRADE”

COVERING ESSA

This week’s big column is about all the different ways to come at the ESSA story this fall. There’s going to be lots of action at the state level, and a long-running attempt to inform and engage parents and educators. But what if anything does the public know about ESSA, and what if anything new are states promising to do to comply with the new law?

Figuring out how to explain ESSA to editors and readers is hard, but it’s not #sheetcaking hard. You can do this. (Plus: you have to.)

Dakarai Aarons got his from a former @memphisnews editor: “Your story should always answer why it exists, and if not, readers will fill in the gaps.” How about you?

NEW BLOOD

Journalism – including education news outlets and teams – needs all the help we can get. A new study comparing newsroom diversity of NYT, Washington Post, LAT to surrounding communities found bits of progress but big gaps.

A bunch of new APM Reports education documentaries are coming out, and the ones I’ve previewed have been great. Shadow Class comes first, next week, followed by Keeping Teachers, Shackled Legacy and Hard to Read. Each documentary comes out online on its release date and on the Educate podcast. Then stations air them throughout the fall and winter.